This invention relates to RJ11 customer bridge assemblies used in outdoor applications and, more particularly, to an improved bridge assembly of this type which has an integrated cover for containing protective gel within the RJ11 jack.
RJ11 customer bridge assemblies are typically installed in a building entrance protector box to provide connections between outside plant telephone wires and telephone wires extending within a building to the customers' premises. Each such bridge assembly includes a pair of terminals to which a pair of inside telephone wires are connected and an RJ11 plug and jack for connecting a pair of outside telephone wires to the terminals. To minimize the corrosive effects of the outdoor environment, the RJ11 jack is usually filled with a gel, which is displaced by the plug when the plug is installed in the jack. Up to now, such jacks have been designed with a solid bottom in order to trap and retain the gel. However, during routine maintenance, the bridge assembly can be exposed to dust, moisture and dirt which can contaminate the gel. Due to the solid bottom of the jack, it is difficult, if not impossible, to clean or replace the gel. On the other hand, if an outdoor jack is designed without a solid bottom, high temperatures can loosen the gel and cause it to fall out the jack bottom. It would therefore be desirable to have such a bridge assembly for an outdoor environment that provides an easy way of replacing contaminated gel in the jack, while retaining the gel in normal usage.
Such customer bridge assemblies are typically installed in an opening provided therefore in a wall of a building entrance protector box. The assembly is retained in the opening by a resilient latch member and can be removed from the outside of the box by using a screwdriver or the like to release the latch member. It would therefore be desirable to provide some means of preventing removal of the customer bridge assembly by other than an authorized individual having access to the interior of the building entrance protector box.